Vast Expanses, Endless Desert
by karkashan
Summary: Pre-OOT. A young red haired boy of the Gerudo is crying all alone, until the ghost of a man called Ganondorf comes and consoles him. "That's interesting boy, my name's Ganondorf as well, although my 'friends' call me Ganon."


As the sun set over the vast expanse of desert, only two things could be heard. The persistent, unstoppable, seemingly never-ending sound of the wind howling, proving every night to the Gerudo tribe why the place in which they lived was a harsh environment. The other sound that could be heard was the sound of a small child crying his heart out.

He was a young boy, with tan skin and flaming red hair. An ugly bruise covered the right side of his face, and his eyes were puffy due to prolonged bouts of crying. He was nestled in between two boulders, his survival instincts keeping him safe from the unforgiving winds, even if he had been too distraught to think that far ahead.

_Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

He lifted his head up at this new noise, and was surprised to see a strange apparition. A man who looked to be in his late twenties, but not a day past thirty, was walking towards the young boy. He was wearing archaic golden armor, his red hair barely a shade or two lighter than his burgundy cloak. His pale skin was free of facial hair, and his piercing gold eyes stared at the young Gerudo boy's very soul. An impressive looking trident was strapped to the man's back, its intimidating points standing out against the setting sun.

The strangest thing about this Hylian, for that's what the boy thought the man to be, was that he could see through him just a little bit.

"You're," _sniff_, "the Gerudo Ghost, aren't you? I've heard Koume and Kotake talk about you before."

The tall man smiled and replied, "I have been called that yes. Now I have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind answering them."

The little boy wiped at his nose and sniffed, "I don't mind, Mr. Ghost. What do you wanna know?"

"First, what exactly have those two witches been telling you about me?"

The young boy crossed his arms and placed them on his knees that he had drawn close to his chest. He placed his head in his arms as he thought of the answer before he replied, "They say that you are an ancient being, that you know more about the history of the Gerudo than they do. They say not only are you the only one who can remember she who is the Desert Colossus, you have also somehow had the opportunity to talk to the Great Goddess Din."

The man quirked an eyebrow, "Anything else, little one?"

The child tapped his chin before speaking, "They also say that you possess deep and terrifyingly dark magics, that only someone blessed by the Goddesses themselves would even stand a chance of banishing you. That and you seem to be a caretaker of sorts to the Gerudo people."

The man smirked, "Now for my second question: Why were you crying little one?"

The boy's lip trembled, "Papa died today…" Fresh tears began to fall down upon his cheeks, and before long he began crying again in earnest.

The man knelt in front of the child and gently wiped away the boy's tears, "I see." The man paused for a minute, as if trying to formulate a reply fit for the child in front of him. "And the bruise?"

"Auntie Nabara told me I'm not supposed to cry, that I'm now the king of the Gerudo, and should act as such." He sniffed again as he tried to contain his remaining tears.

"Your auntie is wrong, little one. When one you care deeply about perishes, and you feel sad because of this, it's okay to cry. Maybe not in public, in front of your people, but right here, right now, in front of no one but me, you can cry to your heart's content."

The boy began to tremble slightly, and soon his body was wracked with sobs. The man stepped closer to the boy and lifted him up into a hug. "Shh…" he said softly to the boy, "It's okay, little king, let it all out."

After the sun had set, the new king of the Gerudo sat calmly before the newly built fire the Ghost had made. His eyes were droopy as he watched the crimson haired man add new fuel to the fire. "Mr. Ghost?" the little boy asked.

"Yes, little king?" was the subdued reply.

"Do…Do you mind keeping watch tonight?"

The man smiled, "Are you tired boy?"

The boy spluttered, "I-I-am not!" He then yawned for almost a half minute.

The armor clad man chuckled softly, "Don't worry about it, little king. I'm already dead, so it's no big deal for me to keep watch. In fact, what do you think about having me train you?"

The boy's eyes grew wide, "R-really? You'd do that for me?"

The man's grin became a fully fledged smile, "Yep. In fact, I can train you so that you can save your people, not just have them barely survive out here."

The boy smiled as well, "Thank you mister."

As the young boy went to sleep with his head on the man's knee, he said with a tired voice, "I almost forgot, mister. My name's Ganondorf, King Ganondorf of the Gerudo Tribe."

"That's interesting," said the man. "My name is Ganondorf as well, Ganondorf Dragmire. You can call me Ganon so there's no confusion though."

There was silence for a couple of minutes, before the little Ganondorf asked, "Hey Ganon?"

"Yes, little 'Dorf?"

"Can you tell me a bed time story?"

Ganon chuckled, "Sure thing. Hmmm…" He scratched his chin in thought before brightening up, "How about a story about a little object I used to own, the Triforce?"

-- -- -- --

FIN

AN: If anyone is confused by that, I believe in multiple Ganons, and think that LTTP happens before OOT. I also believe that several millennia transpire between the formation of Hyrule and its flooding, as I don't believe the history of Hyrule can be contained in just one. However that's my belief and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. So please, no commenting on the timeline if you don't agree.

**AN: Edit: Fixed some things my sole reviewer suggested. (Thank you Sparty) Hopefully that makes a little bit more sense to people now. If anybody else finds a grammatical error or were confused by a sentence, please tell me, i don't mind if you do. It actually helps me out, considering I usually just do a quick glance down my document before i post these things, and then find glaring errors i should have picked up on.**

**I'm just glad that somebody read my fic...XD!**

Reviews are appreciated, and let me know that people actually read my oneshots.


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